Skip to main content
University of Wisconsin–Madison
  • Home
  • News
  • Weekly Weather Event -Week of July 6th

Weekly Weather Event -Week of July 6th

July 11, 2021

Hurricane Elsa brought impacts from the Caribbean all the way up to Canada over the past week, with heavy rains, strong wings, and tornado threats impacting people all along the Southeast and the East Coast. Tornadoes were confirmed by NWS offices in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina on July 7th, and tornadoes touched down in North Carolina and Virginia on July 8th.

As Elsa moved north into coastal New England, the storm system became a post-tropical cyclone. Elsa then brough heavy rains and wind to New Brunswick, Canada, leaving as many as 50,000 users without power. At least one person in the U.S. has died as a result of the storm, and three more people have died in the Caribbean.

Tropical storms are a type of tropical cyclone, or a low-pressure system that develops over warm tropical or subtropical waters. In order for a tropical cyclone to be classified as a tropical storm, it must have maximum sustained winds ranging from 39-73 mph (34 to 63 knots).